Clinicians Increasingly Recommend Flu Vaccine, But More to Do
Clinicians Increasingly Recommend Flu Vaccine, But More to Do
September 21, 2011 — Clinicians are increasingly recommending influenza vaccination to their patients, and patients are getting vaccinated in response to this advice, according to a new survey. More than two thirds of adults (68%) said they received a recommendation from a healthcare professional, representing an increase from 58% in 2010 and 38% in 2008.
However, about one third of respondents said they do not intend to be vaccinated against influenza this flu season. Of those, more than half state that they might change their minds if they knew they might infect others who could become seriously ill. These results reflect the need for clinicians to further educate their patients about influenza vaccination, experts say.
The consumer survey findings, released today by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID), were reported at a press conference held in Washington, DC, in partnership with the National Influenza Vaccine Summit.
The survey was based on telephone interviews conducted from August 11 to 14, 2011, with a sample of 1006 adults, about half of whom were men, aged 18 years and older. The margin of error is estimated to be ±3% for the entire sample. No physician survey accompanied the NFID consumer survey this year.
Despite the high proportion of people not wanting to be vaccinated, 69% did indicate that they could be motivated to change their minds, and nearly 85% of adults aged 18 to 34 years who do not plan to be vaccinated against influenza this season could be motivated to change their minds, suggesting that educating this group could increase vaccination rates overall.
"We can't say for certain why this age group was most motivated, but adults age 18 to 34 were included in the recommendation to get vaccinated for the first time last year," said William Schaffner, MD, president of NFID and chairman of the Department of Preventive Medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee. "The survey data highlights that we need to do more to educate this group why it is important to get vaccinated, and that they are in fact recommended to do so," he told Medscape Medical News.
According to the report, in addition to not wanting to infect others, cited as a motivating factor by 54%, other leading motivating factors for getting vaccinated included a family member's or friend's influenza experience (37%), a recommendation from a healthcare provider (34%), reassurance of vaccine safety (31%), and a recommendation from an employer (21%).
CDC: Increase in Influenza Vaccination Rates
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, also released new data at the press conference. The data represent an update of previously released interim data. About half of the children (51%) in the United States were vaccinated this year, representing a 7% increase over the previous year and a 22% increase over the year before that.
Importantly, "we have seen an increase in flu vaccination in all racial/ethnic groups," said CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH.
The age group most likely to receive influenza vaccine comprised those aged 65 years and older: This age group achieved a 67% vaccination rate last year compared with 41% for all adults. Approximately, 91% of long-term care nursing home residents are protected from influenza through vaccination efforts, Shari M. Ling, MD, chief medical officer, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, noted during the press conference.
In contrast, the immunization rate for pregnant women was only 49% during the 2010 to 2011 season, which is comparable to the previous season. However, the current rate of vaccination among pregnant women falls well short of the public health goals of 80% for pregnant women. Dr. Frieden indicated that the current year's influenza strains, which are identical to last year's, still pose a dramatically increased risk to healthy pregnant women.
"A recent CDC report that studied the impact of H1N1 influenza on pregnant women showed that those who became severely ill had approximately a 20% risk of dying, and that the risk of pre-term and low-birth weight infants was increased among those who delivered during their hospitalization," according to an NFID press release.
"Recent data has also shown that not only does [seasonal influenza vaccine] benefit mothers, but it has also been demonstrated very recently to lower the rates of preterm births, and also lowers the rate of small-for-gestational-age infants," Richard H. Beigi, MD, assistant professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Services, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, said during the press conference.
According to Dr. Frieden, the country is well equipped to protect even more Americans from influenza this year. "We are encouraged that there are now more ways to get vaccinated, more of the vaccine out there, and more people are recommended to get the vaccine," he said during the press conference.
He cited "increases in vaccine supply, new vaccine options, and a growing number of vaccinations for the 2011 to 2012 season, as well as last year's expansion of the vaccination recommendation to include all Americans older than 6 months of age," as reasons for the increase.
Regarding vaccination against pneumococcal disease, which can complicate influenza with severe infections such as pneumonia and meningitis, the data were less encouraging. People aged 65 years or older are recommended to receive the pneumococcal vaccine, and it is also recommended for younger adults who have diabetes, asthma, and heart, lung, or liver conditions.
"Unfortunately, there are about 73 million US adults who are recommended to receive the pneumococcal vaccine but have not received it," Dr. Frieden said.
The NFID survey was supported by unrestricted educational grants from Genentech; GlaxoSmithKline; MedImmune; Merck & Co, Inc; Novartis Vaccines; Pfizer Inc; and Sanofi Pasteur. NFID's policies prohibit funders from controlling program content.
September 21, 2011 — Clinicians are increasingly recommending influenza vaccination to their patients, and patients are getting vaccinated in response to this advice, according to a new survey. More than two thirds of adults (68%) said they received a recommendation from a healthcare professional, representing an increase from 58% in 2010 and 38% in 2008.
However, about one third of respondents said they do not intend to be vaccinated against influenza this flu season. Of those, more than half state that they might change their minds if they knew they might infect others who could become seriously ill. These results reflect the need for clinicians to further educate their patients about influenza vaccination, experts say.
The consumer survey findings, released today by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID), were reported at a press conference held in Washington, DC, in partnership with the National Influenza Vaccine Summit.
The survey was based on telephone interviews conducted from August 11 to 14, 2011, with a sample of 1006 adults, about half of whom were men, aged 18 years and older. The margin of error is estimated to be ±3% for the entire sample. No physician survey accompanied the NFID consumer survey this year.
Despite the high proportion of people not wanting to be vaccinated, 69% did indicate that they could be motivated to change their minds, and nearly 85% of adults aged 18 to 34 years who do not plan to be vaccinated against influenza this season could be motivated to change their minds, suggesting that educating this group could increase vaccination rates overall.
"We can't say for certain why this age group was most motivated, but adults age 18 to 34 were included in the recommendation to get vaccinated for the first time last year," said William Schaffner, MD, president of NFID and chairman of the Department of Preventive Medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee. "The survey data highlights that we need to do more to educate this group why it is important to get vaccinated, and that they are in fact recommended to do so," he told Medscape Medical News.
According to the report, in addition to not wanting to infect others, cited as a motivating factor by 54%, other leading motivating factors for getting vaccinated included a family member's or friend's influenza experience (37%), a recommendation from a healthcare provider (34%), reassurance of vaccine safety (31%), and a recommendation from an employer (21%).
CDC: Increase in Influenza Vaccination Rates
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, also released new data at the press conference. The data represent an update of previously released interim data. About half of the children (51%) in the United States were vaccinated this year, representing a 7% increase over the previous year and a 22% increase over the year before that.
Importantly, "we have seen an increase in flu vaccination in all racial/ethnic groups," said CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH.
The age group most likely to receive influenza vaccine comprised those aged 65 years and older: This age group achieved a 67% vaccination rate last year compared with 41% for all adults. Approximately, 91% of long-term care nursing home residents are protected from influenza through vaccination efforts, Shari M. Ling, MD, chief medical officer, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, noted during the press conference.
In contrast, the immunization rate for pregnant women was only 49% during the 2010 to 2011 season, which is comparable to the previous season. However, the current rate of vaccination among pregnant women falls well short of the public health goals of 80% for pregnant women. Dr. Frieden indicated that the current year's influenza strains, which are identical to last year's, still pose a dramatically increased risk to healthy pregnant women.
"A recent CDC report that studied the impact of H1N1 influenza on pregnant women showed that those who became severely ill had approximately a 20% risk of dying, and that the risk of pre-term and low-birth weight infants was increased among those who delivered during their hospitalization," according to an NFID press release.
"Recent data has also shown that not only does [seasonal influenza vaccine] benefit mothers, but it has also been demonstrated very recently to lower the rates of preterm births, and also lowers the rate of small-for-gestational-age infants," Richard H. Beigi, MD, assistant professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Services, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, said during the press conference.
According to Dr. Frieden, the country is well equipped to protect even more Americans from influenza this year. "We are encouraged that there are now more ways to get vaccinated, more of the vaccine out there, and more people are recommended to get the vaccine," he said during the press conference.
He cited "increases in vaccine supply, new vaccine options, and a growing number of vaccinations for the 2011 to 2012 season, as well as last year's expansion of the vaccination recommendation to include all Americans older than 6 months of age," as reasons for the increase.
Regarding vaccination against pneumococcal disease, which can complicate influenza with severe infections such as pneumonia and meningitis, the data were less encouraging. People aged 65 years or older are recommended to receive the pneumococcal vaccine, and it is also recommended for younger adults who have diabetes, asthma, and heart, lung, or liver conditions.
"Unfortunately, there are about 73 million US adults who are recommended to receive the pneumococcal vaccine but have not received it," Dr. Frieden said.
The NFID survey was supported by unrestricted educational grants from Genentech; GlaxoSmithKline; MedImmune; Merck & Co, Inc; Novartis Vaccines; Pfizer Inc; and Sanofi Pasteur. NFID's policies prohibit funders from controlling program content.
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